


Vulnerabilities: Levi's Past

by TundrainAfrica



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Canon Universe, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Levi and Cleaning (Shingeki no Kyojin), Levi's Past, Levi-centric (Shingeki no Kyojin), Overprotective Kenny Ackerman, Sick Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:49:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26824678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TundrainAfrica/pseuds/TundrainAfrica
Summary: Kenny takes a sickly Levi under his wing after his sister Kuchel's death. Vulnerabilities Verse Oneshot.
Relationships: Kenny Ackerman & Kuchel Ackerman, Kenny Ackerman & Levi, Kuchel Ackerman & Levi
Comments: 9
Kudos: 189
Collections: Vulnerabilities Oneshots





	1. Kuchel Ackerman

**Author's Note:**

> Levi is definitely one of my favorite characters and before Season 4 comes out, I wanted to explore his character by adding vulnerable points to him. He may be an Ackerman but he's still human and I'm sure that his rough childhood had left him with at least some shortcomings despite his being overpowered in the battlefield.
> 
> Besides, it's a good excuse for some hurt comfort and fluff.

**Kuchel Ackerman**

Life in the underground city working in a brothel was not ideal. With Ackermans being persecuted left and right though, Kuchel knew living in a brothel was still a better option to prison or the gallows. 

The work paid. She had a roof over her head. She had a bed to sleep in. She had food on the table. 

Her work did also get interesting every now and then. The men that came to visit her varied. They asked for different things in bad and Kuchel eventually learned to adapt her style to whatever the next customer wanted. 

The biggest surprise though came when Kuchel did not expect it. She had been feeling nauseous and weak lately. It was no surprise though. In the underground city, with less resources and little to no exposure to sunlight, many people succumbed to disease. Kuchel was sure she had only been spared because she had spent a good part of her life above ground. Her work also paid her enough that she could comfortably eat and sleep. 

When the morning sickness started to affect her work though, Kuchel decided to see a doctor to hopefully get whatever disease that was plaguing her under control. 

"You're pregnant."

It wasn't a disease. Kuchel's eyes widened in surprise. Somehow she was relieved, maybe slightly overwhelmed. 

"Living in the underground city could affect the growth of the child… if you could bring the father in for a check up we could maybe figure out if he will be vulnerable to anything…"

Kuchel shook her head. She slept with at least five people a week. She knew even before she tried that it would be impossible to figure it out who the father was. 

The doctor raised one eyebrow in doubt. He was giving her the same look most other people have given her when they found out her line of work. "My apologies, I should have asked you another question first. Would you like to keep the child?"

The life underground was full dark, bleak yet full of surprises. It was the surprise factor which kept Kuchel working hard everyday. Before her then, was probably one of the biggest surprises of her life. She caressed her stomach as if asking her body what it wanted her to do. She felt the warmth from beneath the dress. There was a life growing inside her. Could she handle the pain of bearing a child? The responsibility of raising him? 

She made a fair amount of money. She had a roof over her head. She had transitioned from a comfortable life above ground to one in a brothel. For sure, she would be ready for this next stage in her life? 

"I'm keeping the child."

**Vulnerability**

It had been a few months since then, the growing belly and the maternity pains left Kuchel out of commission and she had to rely on dwindling savings to keep up with the doctor's checkups and the living costs. It was by the fourth month did Kuchel grow desperate. She sent out a letter to her brother, explaining her financial burden but leaving out an important detail behind the origins of the financial issue. 

She and her brother had an amicable relationship. Their upbringing had left them both fiercely independent. The reputation of the Ackermans had also left them close enough though that they would never deny each other some help when necessary. By the time Kenny had received the letter and went underground for a visit. Kuchel had a belly big enough that Kenny was able to catch on to the origins of her money problems at first glance. 

"Business must have been slow the past months huh?" Kenny commented as a first greeting. 

"It's an occupational risk." Kuchel answered. She did not need the question. Her brother had already spent the past few seconds just staring at her baby bump. 

"This is why you needed the money." 

"I've been eating 1-2 meals a day to make my savings last but I don't think this will be sustainable for me or the child."

Kenny had to note that although Kuchel's belly was bigger, she was particularly bonier, her frame more apparent even from beneath her night dress.  _ Why was she putting herself through this?  _ "If you're having trouble getting an abortion here, I could fix something above ground..."

"It's not that easy..."

"I know it's not that easy but you can go straight back to work soon after and you won't have to ask for any more help." Kenny knew Kuchel hated asking for help and grappled to understand the sheer desperation Kuchel must have felt to ask for money through a letter. 

"You misunderstood. I want to keep the baby, Kenny. It gets lonely and depressing here. This...made me feel something I haven't felt in a while." 

"You're getting soft, Kuchel. The other Ackermans wouldn't be too happy with this decision to bear another one. We're all in deep shit as it is." Kenny warned.

"If you're just going to try to convince me to give up the child, then I'll just try to make ends meet another way. The child is staying."

Kuchel rivaled Kenny in attitude growing up. Seeing the way she caressed her stomach though in contrast with the way she generally was around others, Kenny was sure the child would grow up with a good mother. She loved that unborn child enough to let go of her pride and ask him for help.

Kenny smiled as he dropped the pouch of money next to her bed. "I guess you're lucky then your brother is getting some pretty good jobs to make ends meet. This should cover for your food and medical bills until you're ready to get back to work. Get more meat into that bony frame, or that fetus might come out with only half a head."

"You're welcome to come back anytime. I'll try to get this paid back by the time the child's born."

"I'll be pretty busy the next few years with these new jobs so take your time with the money. I guess next time I'll be seeing you , I'll be meeting your kid then too."

"We'll both be looking forward to it."

**Vulnerability**

As Kenny predicted, the money only lasted until a few weeks after giving birth. By that time, Kuchel was physically ready to get back to work. She had a debt to pay and a son to raise and that's what drove her to take in two to three customers a night. 

When she wasn't working, she was breastfeeding her son, Levi. When she was working, she knew she still had to be caring for him.The brothel had allowed her to leave Levi in an unused room while she was busy with customers. She would hear his cries from the other room while working but would force herself to dismiss it as some other mother's abandoned child. 

For Kuchel, it was a living hell.Was he eating enough? Was he seeing her enough? Did he know that her abandoning him for ten to twelve hours a day was all because she loved him? At her worst, she almost regretted choosing to keep the child.

When she finally did get to care for him, she wondered if she was really feeding him enough milk, if he was really getting enough of a mother's touch. Kuchel settled with sleeping two hours a night so she could make sure he at least grew up knowing someone loved him.

In his first few years of life, Kuchel had feared that she had made irreparable mistakes raising Levi. Fortunately, Levi managed to survive through his first few years. By then, Kuchel had more than enough saved to pay Kenny when he visited again. 

Kuchel accepted less work and tried to invest more of her time on her son. By the time he was four though, the lack of sunlight and the spartan lifestyle she adopted for herself had taken a toll on her health. Levi was about to turn five when Kuchel was completely out of service and was a full time mother.

By the time Levi was four, Kuchel was in bed almost full time, only forcing herself out when she needed to buy food. 

By the time Levi was five, Kuchel realized she was burned through the savings she had set aside for Kenny. 

She started scrimping first on doctor visits, and then on meals. She was then eating only one to two meals a day, leaving the rest for Levi. 

A few months after that, she was completely bedridden. Her world and her time with her son was limited to the two to three hours a day of consciousness and Levi constantly by her bedside. 

"Mommy, eat."

During those small glimmers of consciousness, her son was always feeding her. She was too preoccupied with the neverending throbbing in her head and the aches all over her body for her to understand why or how. 

When she ate the food he reached out to her, he always seemed to look the most relieved and happiest though. While she was in and out of consciousness, that was what she held on to. She concluded, towards the end she was a bad mother and the only way she could give back to her son then was through those temporal bouts of happiness. 

"Mommy we have bread. Eat."

Kuchel woke up one day to see Levi by her bedside once again. It was only then did she notice that, Levi's bones were protruding through the his nightgown. His cheekbones were more prominent than she could ever remember.  _ Was he starving? He should eat. _

"Levi… Mommy's not hungry."

Levi's eyes widened in desperation. Kuchel saw tears.  _ Why was he crying? _

"You've lost weight Levi. You should eat the bread..." Kuchel looked to the bread that Levi had set out in front of her. She tried to hold it only to find out she did not even have the strength to even hold it for a second. She settled for pushing it towards her son. 

She heard the light thud of bread on the floor and looked towards her son. She had expected the latter to pick it up but he just continued to stare at her, tears welling in his eyes. 

_ Maybe he didn't hear me.  _ "You've lost weight Levi. Eat the bread." Kuchel tried to say it louder and that action alone had left her exhausted and she was more than ready to fall back to sleep. 

Before closing her eyes, she had made sure to look at her son's face one last time. He looked hungry and frail yet he didn't pick up the bread and just continued to stare. 

He was looking at her as if he could lose her by just looking away. 

Kuchel smiled at him. _Levi. Mommy won't leave you that easily._


	2. Kenny Ackerman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kenny takes in a newly orphaned Levi and Levi becomes a clean freak for reasons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be posting these in chronological order of Levi's life. The next person Levi met after Kuchel was definitely Kenny as confirmed by canon and am currently working with ACWNR canon now to build another one shot. Anyway, some people may find Kenny to be OCC here. My headcanon (if not confirmed) for Kenny is that the man at least had a heart. His motivations for wanting the founding titan is he wanted to experience the same peace and compassion as Uri but the there was a sort of "Wizard of Oz" theme to it because Kenny had the compassion all along when he decided to take in the orphaned Levi. 
> 
> Either way, I hope you enjoy it.

The first thing Kenny did after finding Kuchel's dead body and her near-dead son was to take the young Levi to the nearest pub. He would have wanted to clean out his sister's body first but after seeing the frail boy, knew that this could be a life or death situation for him. Kenny had seen starvation before. The high population disproportionate to the relatively small land space within the walls meat, there were those bound to starve. As a man who had lived a life discriminated and prosecuted in the outer walls, he was aware of the details on the cruelties commonly offered to them.

He didn't want to take a gamble with the only memory left of his sister. Kuchel had been dead for two weeks by the time Kenny had stumbled across the frail Levi. The latter looked like he had not eaten at all for over two weeks. Kenny guesses the reason Levi lived that long was water. Kenny knew that the average person could survive with only water for at least 40 days. He expected that from adults, not from an eight year old boy. 

_ Could be the Ackerman blood. _ Kenny told himself, somewhat relieved that the young boy in front of him was devouring the food he had ordered him. "Eat a lot boy. You need to grow big and strong."

The boy just ignored him as he continued to devour the pile of bread Kenny had ordered him. Levi fell asleep soon after he cleaned out the plate and Kenny found himself carrying the young boy piggyback to the nearest inn. 

He dropped the young boy in the inn and proceeded back to the brothel to clean out the body and mourn the death of his sister. 

Her death was sudden. Kenny hadn't seen her in years and he had expected to at least get an update on her situation and her family. He had even set aside some extra money to at least help lighten the financial burden of raising a child on a sex worker's income. Kenny allowed himself a few tears as he gave his sister's body one last look. He silently put his sister's body into a sack and carried it out into the streets. 

It was midnight and nobody was out in the streets to question the sack on his back. Even if they did, Kenny noted that Kuchel's body was smaller than usual and it could have passed up for trash as long as no one opened the bag. 

He made his way to the nearest pyre where the civilians of the underground city would burn their trash, a series of pipes leading the smoke aboveground. Someone had left it burning overnight. Somehow, Kenny had wished that the trash hadn't been burnt yet for the week. The moment he drops the body into the fire, Kuchel would be gone forever and just that idea, left Kenny somehow heavy hearted. She was his only family left. 

Kenny reminded himself to harden his heart. He thought of Kuchel and the decision she made to keep the child given the circumstances.  _ Maybe that's why she died. _ Kenny thought to himself. Just imagining how his sister had given into her emotions had given Kenny the push he needed to drop the sack into the pyre. 

He looked away before he could watch the flames consume the sack. Kuchel was gone and he knew he would never see her again. As he made his way back into the inn, silently processing the loss of his last living family, Kenny thought back to the only thing Kuchel left behind. 

_ Levi _

He had lost his sister but as he thought back to the frail body, he couldn't help but notice their similarities. Levi had Kuchel's sharp blue eyes. It could have just been the frailness but Kenny saw the same distinct jawline and face shape. Levi was definitely Kuchel's son. They looked so much alike, Kenny couldn't even imagine how the father must have looked alike. 

As he arrived back in the inn, he allowed himself a long look at the young boy sleeping on the bed. The long hair that framed the young boy's face as he peacefully slept only further validated Kenny's thoughts. Levi was a splitting image of his mother. 

That was what motivated him to take Levi out to the streets and teach him to fend for himself. The most he could do to honor his sister's memory was to make sure her son did not follow that same fate. 

**Vulnerabilities**

Levi had a natural quickness and strength about him which Kenny would attribute to the Ackerman genes. The boy quickly learned to use a knife and his fists to settle conflicts. Kenny was sure soon enough, the boy would be able to use them to make a living. 

The weakness lay in the occasional bouts of sickness Levi had. There were one to two days a season where Levi would be down with some fever or flu. Kenny at least, did not have to do much during those days. When Levi was down with a fever, Kenny would usually just leave him in an inn and go above ground to maybe meet Uri or grab a quick odd job. The young boy was usually independent enough to take care of himself on off days. 

Levi was twelve when Kenny first decided that he could permanently leave the young boy to fend for himself. Kenny had found a job to beat up an armed robber who rampaged among one of the relatively richer districts in the underground. It was a job that could definitely build a reputation for the young boy. Kenny watched Levi finish the job. He planned to take the boy out to dinner, check them into another inn then leave the boy for good while he slept.

As expected, Levi had finished off the thug with no problem. 

"You should have done it when there were more people around. You can't build a reputation which can earn you money unless more people are watching." Kenny advised to the young boy who followed behind him. It was when Kenny started to look back at Levi did he realize that it  _ was _ strange that the young boy was trailing behind him. Quickly taking out armed robbers was never really a challenge for Levi. He should not have been tired enough to slow down.

The young boy though was red in the face as he stopped in the middle of the road, his eyes hidden beneath his bangs. 

As Kenny brushed Levi's bangs aside, he almost flinched as he did not expect the heat coming out of Levi's forehead. He saw the boy's eyes were unfocused and noticed his soft yet labored breaths. "Let's get you back to the inn."

**Vulnerabilities**

Kenny only noticed as he tucked the feverish Levi into bed that he himself, had a scratchy throat and a slight headache. 

"Looks like I'm getting sick too" Kenny commented, he looked back to his nephew to see that the boy had fallen into a fitful sleep. 

The inn only had one bed and usually when that happened, he'd take the bed and let Levi sleep on the couch. As he put his hand on Levi's forehead and heard the labored breathing, he decided to take one for the two of them. It was when he settled on the couch the strong musty smell of the room which made his throat burn a little more.

The sore throat was never an issue for Kenny. In fact if Levi had not come up with that same cold, Kenny would have never noticed how scratchy his throat had become. He had experienced worse pains in his job. Within a day, the scratchiness had passed and he knew he was heading towards a full recovery. 

Levi on the other hand was only getting worse. Kenny had drilled him the day after on light knife movements with many breaks in between. Levi managed to at least pull those off, albeit more weakly than usual. 

By night though, he could barely even put weight on his joints or move his arms. The young boy complained of achy joints but Kenny had attributed that to fatigue. 

It turned out to be an almost fatal oversight.

Kenny was woken up in the middle of the night to a crying Levi. What almost left Kenny shaken was the fact that that although he had seen the boy in pain countless times but had never heard him cry or whimper like that, even when his face was covered in bruises or cuts, even with a concussion or a broken bone. He sensed the urgency and quickly turned on the lights. With the dim light, he could make out the bloodstains on the bed. 

"What the fuck is going on?" At that moment, Kenny feared for Levi's life. 

He enlisted the help of the inn owner to find the nearest clinic that could accept an emergency in the middle of the night. 

The good thing about the underground city was the lack of sunlight meant there were always going to be places that would never sleep and Kenny managed to find a doctor willing to take them in so late at night. 

Kenny was almost surprised at how light the boy still was, even after all the growth and weight gain since he had found him in the brothel more than four years ago. He carried the young boy in his arms as they entered the clinic. He handed Levi to the doctor and watched as the latter effortlessly carried the young boy further into the clinic. 

Kenny waited outside and thought back to the dead body of his sister and pondered how his sister would probably feel if Levi died just like that. Was it the light knife drills? Was he overworking the boy? Was this a sign to stay longer? 

He had many questions but he too was exhausted having spent a few hours running around the town, looking for a doctor willing to take in the young boy. He allowed himself a few hours of a light sleep in the waiting room. 

He was awoken early that morning to the clanking of cutlery. 

"Oh you're awake." 

He found a middle aged women who he guessed may have been the wife of the doctor. The woman was in the act of dropping a cup of tea on the table in front of him. 

"How's the kid?"

The woman narrowed her eyes in pity that for a while Kenny thought Levi might have died. 

"He was in a lot of pain last night so we had to give him a sleeping drought. So far he's still fighting. My husband will give you a clearer update when he wakes up."

"Can I see him?"

The woman led him further into the clinic and into a private room. Levi was bundled up in blankets, the pink tinge in his face, completely gone, replaced with a white, almost transparent pallor. 

Kenny looked to the sheets bundled up to the side of the room, blood stained. The amount of blood looked to unhealthy to be relieving. 

"That's his blood?"

She nodded. "He lost a lot of blood because of the nosebleeds. We're honestly surprised he's still alive."

Kenny looked down to see that he too was covered with dried blood from last night. 

"He's a strong kid."

"For making it this long, he definitely is. Given how much blood he's lost though, it will be a miracle if he makes it to tomorrow."

The woman went out of the room leaving Kenny alone with a sleeping Levi. The boy was a far cry from the kid beating up adults twice his size only last week. For a moment, Kenny thought of how much of a waste it would be to lose the kid to some unknown illness. 

"Hey kid, my sister won't be too happy if you went out just like her. If you're looking to die, at least die magnificently in some street brawls. Don't you think this is a little too pathetic?" Kenny joked. He had to bite back what felt like a sob creeping up his neck as he said that last part. _You better not die on me Levi._

He rested his chin on the palm of his hand and focused on the weak rise and fall of the young boy's chest.

**Vulnerabilities**

"An infection. I would guess if you've experienced minor symptoms, that both of you were infected by the same thing. It just came out as something more severe in the young boy."

Levi was still weak, possibly still in pain but by the mercy of whatever god exists, he was alive. As the doctor explained the condition, Kenny sneaked glances at the young boy. 

Levi was propped up to a semi sitting position only by a few pillows on top of the other. He looked like he had just experienced a pain he had never before. Kenny noticed the lines and circles below his eyes were deeper and his jaw was tight as if he was trying to hold off another whimper or another cry. 

"Why did this cold end up fucking him over then?" Kenny asked.

"Possibly genetics or possibly immunodeficiencies from a difficult childhood. Relatively common among children here since they don't get exposure to sunlight growing up and they have to live with limited food rations. Based on the record you gave me, it looks like his mother died from illness. This vulnerability could have been inherited."

Kenny nodded. He didn't need to ask further questions. He put his money in the fact that the life threatening starvation Levi had experienced was the culprit. The Ackerman bloodline was too strong for this type of vulnerability to be attributed to pure genetics. 

"So how do you suggest we prevent this… in the future?" 

At the doctor's suggestion, Kenny went back to the room in the inn. They had been staying in that particular inn for three weeks already. Kenny allowed himself to focus on the dirtiness if their surroundings. As he focused his senses on the small details of the room, he was eventually able to pick up the multiple environmental factors that could have lead to them getting sick. The room was definitely not well ventilated. The air was moist and a strong musty smell remained, particularly strong towards the corner of the room with the coach. As he pushed back the couch he had made Levi sleep on, he found the discolored cracks and the musty smell only got stronger, to the point that it was nauseating. 

Kenny covered his nose, took a quick sample of the discoloration and brought it back to the doctor. 

"It looks like it was an environmental issue then." The doctor said as he examined the sample on paper. "Fungi tend to show up in dark, moist and cramped areas and if not cleaned and maintained properly, people who get exposed to them could end up like the boy here. You two better improve your cleaning skills then, especially if the boy gets this type of reaction when infected. He could have died last night."

"You heard that? You better be more careful."

Kenny turned to Levi who turned his body facing the doctor. He looked exhausted and Kenny could almost liken his face to that of a soldier after war. "He doesn't look like he wants to experience this anymore."

"Rheumatic fevers are painful things. Your joints ache, your body feels like it's burning, you can't breathe. Sometimes your insides will feel like they're on fire too. I'm pretty sure this young boy here, experienced everything the night you rushed him here." The doctor explained. He brushed the bangs of Levi back and talked to him softly. "You barely made it boy. Try not to be too careless especially since you're not as healthy as the other kids. This attack in particular did a number on your body."

Levi didn't need to nod. He brushed away the hand of the doctor and turned his body away from both Kenny and the doctor. 

Kenny knew the boy had heard enough but by the way his lines formed below his eyes and the way his jaw tightened, Kenny was sure Levi would never forgotten this happened and maybe this was enough to motivate the young boy to do his part to make sure it never happened again. 

**Vulnerabilities**

Levi spent two more weeks in the clinic. By the time, he was discharged, Kenny had found another inn and with the doctor's advice, managed to clean the room so it would be friendly to a possibly immunocompromised Levi. 

Kenny's prediction was right. As soon as Levi entered the room, he had also scanned every nook and cranny for possible mustiness, dust and any other possible microorganism that could get him sick like before. 

That painful ordeal had left something broken within Levi and the young boy had turned into some sort of clean freak. 

Levi's newfound habit of constantly keeping himself and his surroundings clean became almost annoying at times for Kenny. The latter had to admit though that it came with more positives than negatives. Levi barely had any sick days. From one to two sick days a season, Levi only got sick one to two days a year. With that, they smoothly transitioned back to the training. 

By the time Levi was fourteen, Kenny was confident, Levi was neither going to die in a brawl or from an infection. He was strong enough to defend himself in an all out brawl regardless of the size of his opponent and he was fastidious enough to not easily to succumb to infection either. 

Kenny reflected on all that and weighed Levi's chances in the match as well as Levi's chances of survival in the future as he watched the young boy beat up a grown man, the fifth of a five man gang. 

Levi had a few cuts on his face, and Kenny could see the beginnings of a nosebleed. He was sure at least the latter was from a punch not from a fever. Levi would clean out all the wounds soon after to prevent infection. 

The young boy had built good habits. He also had more than enough strength, skill and tenacity to survive the harsh life underground. He had also built a reputation, big enough at least to secure a few jobs a year. 

Kenny smiled to himself as he recounted the characteristics that made up the battle hardened Levi. At that point, there was no reason for him to stay anymore. He would put all his money into Levi making it at the least past twenty. 

_ Looks like my work here is done Kuchel. _

He silently slipped away and was never seen again in the underground city. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, do tell me what you think.

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you think!


End file.
